"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Castro regime linked to weapons smuggling again.

The latest weapons smuggling incident involving the Castro regime, this time in Colombia sheds new light on international realities.

On March 2, 2015 the news broke
that the government of Colombia had seized a shipment of ammunition
bound for Cuba on a China-flagged ship due to a lack of proper
documentation.

The BBC today reported that "Officials said about 100 tons of gunpowder, almost three million detonators and some 3,000 cannon shells were found on board. The ship's records said it was carrying grain products."

The Guardian reported: "The captain of a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship has been arrested in the
Colombian port city of Cartagena, charged with arms trafficking for
transporting undocumented large-caliber munitions, reportedly bound for Cuba."

According to The Guardian the final destination is a front company for the Cuban military and the ammunition was supplied by a Chinese manufacturer:

Photos of the crates containing the gunpowder, published by the
Cartagena newspaper El Universal, showed they were destined for a
company called TecnoImport in Cuba, which according to several blogs is a
procurement branch of the Cuban armed forces.
The company officially lists itself as an importer of machinery and
industrial products. The supplier is listed on the crates as Norico, a
Chinese manufacturer of machinery and chemical products, as well
high-tech defense products.

Now that Communist China has eclipsed the United States as the largest economy in the world this kind of thing will probably be occuring more often and the consequences to American lives and property should be of concern.

At the same time it is interesting to note that in 2013 with North Korea and now again with China in 2015 the Castro regime has been linked to scandals involving arms smuggling. Blogging by Boz reaches a reasonable conclusion: "Two big shipments of weapons seized in 20 months means that this is probably a regular occurrence."